Cast booilts group w/unknown boolit

[seabreeze133]

My new to me Remington 700 3006 is a shooter. 10 shot (yes 10) group at 50 yds was .36 x .32 for 9 shots w/a called flyer .5" from group center. Load was 21 gr 4759, a 185 GC gr boolits sized .311, WLR primers and LC brass. Great shooting for me. Avg velocity is 1747 fps. ES 30.2. Looks like a deer/hog load. :o)

Now for the bad news. Bullets were given to me and are probably 15 or so years old and the donor has no idea what mold as they were given to him. I have an old Lee single cavity mold that the boolits will fit nicely but have never made boolits from that mold shoot well in 308 or 3006.

Any thoughts on who makes a 185 gr mold, other than Lee, that makes boolits that shoot? Or is this just an average group for everyone else and I am easily pleased?

seabreeze

[Beerd]

If you have one leftover, pull the bullet and post a photo.
..

[Hamish]

:coffeecom Post a pic, I suspect you're about to cause a Group Buy to appear out of thin air,,,,,,[smilie=l:

[seabreeze133]

Hate to admit this but....no clue how to post a pic and photo bucket is on my poop list. Might be easier to find a sample boolit and mail it to an interested/capable honcho.

BTW, I cast a few from my old Lee mold and even though the old boolits would drop into the mold, the fresh cast ones were not the same and they weighed 195 grains instead of 185. Amazing that the boolits were within .2 gr either side of 195 gr, but boolit quality was not very good. Tried adding some hard alloy to WW without improvement in visual quality. I had in the past tried to round file the mold but just could not do it. It is in tomorrows dumpster.

So to my question, is this group really good or am I just easy to please?

If I knew how to post pics, I could post pics of target.

Help

seabreeze

[Bad Water Bill]

Send a BOOLIT to Swede Nelson (NOE) and he can copy it and YOU can start your own group buy.

Problem solved already.:bigsmyl2:

[davidheart]

Send a BOOLIT to Swede Nelson (NOE) and he can copy it and YOU can start your own group buy.

Problem solved already.:bigsmyl2:

That's actually a good idea. At the very least he could take the measurements and give you a more informed opinion. Without photos I'm not sure how many people would be able to think up a random .311 boolit to match yours. 30 Caliber boolit molds are SUPER abundant.

Today working on a load the best I could shoot was 1 inch at 50 yards 1700fps 2.5x scout scope. Good shooting on your group. [smilie=p:

Edit: Lee does make this 180gr boolit mold. Depending on alloy and gas check could be 185 as a final product: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/107571/lee-2-cavity-bullet-mold-c309-180-r-30-caliber-309-diameter-180-grain-1-ogive-radius-gas-check

This one is a Lyman 311332 180gr mold: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/482860/lyman-2-cavity-bullet-mold-311332-30-caliber-309-diameter-180-grain-pointed-tip-gas-check

And this is a Saeco 180gr mold: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/134433/saeco-2-cavity-bullet-mold-307-30-caliber-309-diameter-180-grain-flat-nose-gas-check

This is RCBS Flat Point: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/125643/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-30-180-fn-30-caliber-309-diameter-180-grain-flat-nose-gas-check

This is an RCBS Semi-Flat Point: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/112896/rcbs-2-cavity-bullet-mold-30-180-sp-30-caliber-309-diameter-180-grain-semi-point-gas-check

And apparently Lyman made a 185 "Target" boolit mold: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LYMAN-IDEAL-308329-30-06-Caliber-185gr-Target-Bullet-Mold-with-Handles-/390842219852

[Blammer]

you can actually down load a picture to here at CB site and link to it here. :)

click on your user name in the very very top right corner, go to "MY PROFILE" then look on the left side for "albums" and click on the "MORE" next to it and follow for adding an album.

[williamwaco]

Try the 170 grain Lee. It is a great shooter.

[9.3X62AL]

The 9-shotter the OP describes is a GREAT 50 yard group, esp. from a sporter bolt rifle.

I've had decent--but not that good--performance from the Lee 312-185 design in a now-departed 30-06 that the bullet fit well within. If the Lee bore rider designs fit the land diameter closely and the drive bands fit the THROAT, chances are the bullets will shoot in your rifle. The only down-side to the Lee designs is the somewhat stingey lube capacity many of that company's rifle designs contain. You'll need to use higher-end lube like LSS Carnauba Red if you want to drive them much past 1700 FPS.

On that subject......early work in a 1950s FN Mauser 98 in 30-06 with Lee's 200 grain bullets shows DEEP promise, with some 1.3"-1.5" 5-shotters at 100 yards and running 2050-2100 FPS. Yes, they push back just a bit.

[Djones]

Send me the lee mold from the trash and a pulled bullet. I will make a 3d model and drawing of the bullet.

Your lee mold may only need cleaned.

[seabreeze133]

PM sent.


Send me the lee mold from the trash and a pulled bullet. I will make a 3d model and drawing of the bullet.

Your lee mold may only need cleaned.

seabreeze

[MT Chambers]

CBA records are usually set with .30 cal. rifles and Eagan molds, also the Saeco #315.

[Thumbcocker]

20-21 grains of 4759 is never a bad choice with 180-220 grn boolits in 06 in my experience.

[leadman]

I have many 30 caliber molds. The best shooting Lee is the 200gr RN GC for me. This is in 4 of my 30-06 bolt guns. The next best shooter is the Lyman 311041 that drops about 175grs. For larger or worn bores it is the Lyman 314299.
If I was looking for a good boolit in and did not want to spent a bunch I would buy the Lee 200gr RN. I consistently shoot this boolit into groups at 100 yards around 1" give or take a little.

[Djones]

I got the pulled boolit yesterday in the mail. It looks like the modern lee c309-180R

[Djones]

Here is a close up.

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt124/duckwhackercmon/6ED32C5B-64C6-4BD9-9F58-6327E91AE11C.jpg (http://s604.photobucket.com/user/duckwhackercmon/media/6ED32C5B-64C6-4BD9-9F58-6327E91AE11C.jpg.html)

[Djones]

http://i604.photobucket.com/albums/tt124/duckwhackercmon/34F1F169-1FB3-4923-873D-130A4EABE04D.png (http://s604.photobucket.com/user/duckwhackercmon/media/34F1F169-1FB3-4923-873D-130A4EABE04D.png.html)

I can make a drawing but since this bullet fits in the 200 grain version mold, which just has a longer nose, I would bet that it is the C309-180-R.

Good luck seabreaze. Hopefully someone else more knowledgable can back me up!

David

[richhodg66]

My old Lyman manual showed 21 grains of 4759 and the 311284 (210 grains) as the potentially most accurate load and it was a good shooter in a couple of '06s I shot it in, though not quite that good.

Sounds like you have a keeper. Cast a few that are fairly soft, load them up and go hunting.

[seabreeze133]

djones

Thanks for the feedback. NEVER expected Lee mold to do this well. Looks as if I need to order one.

seabreeze

[compass will]

I bought a lee 312-185 that my buddies old 30-06 would shoot the hell out of them. his barrel was loose and it shot this boolit better than any Jword bullet he could find.

[seabreeze133]

OK people.
Extracted head from a well known dark place after reading post by compass will and went to Lee site w/following epiffeny:

Boolit for 303 brit is correct advertised diameter and weight plus larger driving bands and nose. Hmmmm.... couldst it be? So found zip lock bag where good boolits were stored. Voila.... 185 gr cast measuring .313 driving bands and 303 nose. This may be da 303 brit boolit I have been shooting in a Remington 700 308 diameter. Good news is no over pressure signs.

Comments and thought processes are appreciated.

seabreeze

PS- In checking my original post, I noticed I had described boolit as 311 diameter. As mentioned above, it is .313 diameter. Weird.

[GooseGestapo]

I'm NOT suprised...
I have many Lee moulds and a lot of the .30cal offerings. I find the 155gr SemiPtd GC .310 which casts to .313 and sized to .311 is equally as accurate at the posters load. I too have used quite a bit of the SR4759 at the specified loading, hence I'm not suprised. My .22Hornet shoots a similar size group with the Lyman 22541 (predecessor to 225415) fngc at 49.5gr with SR4759.

I have the Lee .311" 170gr FNGC as well as the 200gr RNGC. Either shoot equally well over 35.5gr of H4895. My M1 "match" rifle shoots under 2" at 100yds with the 200gr RNGC at ~2,000fps and is amazingly smooth and reliable cycling. Like a "ballistic sewing machine"...

Too bad that SR4759 is being discontinued by Hodgdon. Perhaps after the current "dearth" of powders, they'll bring it back "again"... It was discontinued back in the late '70's and early '80's...